Alright, good evening. Good to be with you tonight. If you'll turn in your Bibles to Joshua chapter 4, Book of Joshua. Chapter 4, as we think about, we mentioned during our prayer time, praying for Brother Michael and his family as they have the funeral for his grandmother. He'll be having a part in that funeral tomorrow and he's asked us to be praying for him as he presents the gospel. He's got some family that needs to hear the gospel. So let's really be praying for him tomorrow. Well, I was thinking about this service tonight and thinking, wow, this is the last service of 2020. And as I was thinking and praying about what God would have me to bring tonight, I thought, well, it's certainly significant, the fact that this is our last service of the year. And 2020, it's been a year to remember, hasn't it? And we could remember all sorts of things that have taken place over this past year. You know, of course, starting with COVID and everything that goes along with that, you know, wearing masks and quarantining and staying at home and businesses being closed, churches going on virtually and of course the election and all that has taken place with that and civil unrest across the country and probably many other things that we could mention tonight that comes to our mind when we think about 2020. While we certainly realize that most, if not all of these things really, will have ongoing effects into the next year, they'll always be associated with 2020. But as we take a few moments tonight to consider this past year, I want to ask you the question, how are you going to remember 2020? How are you going to remember 2020? I was looking through some notes that I had in an old Bible of mine that I used for many, many years. And I found a quotation that I had written down, and you might find this hard to believe, but it was actually on a little sticky note. So those of you who know anything about me know that's not really hard to believe. But here's what that quotation says. It says, what we focus on is always our choice. What we focus on is always our choice and we can choose to remember 2020 by all the chaos and all the uncertainty that we experience. However, we can also choose to remember 2020 by what God did and who he was to us this year. Think about that song that Ashlyn sang tonight. She says, the song says, all I know is that God is good. And yes, we can look back at 2020 and there's a lot that comes to our mind. There's a lot of things that we could remember about 2020. But we could also choose to remember that in spite of it all, we know that God is good. And that's what I want to talk about tonight. Well, in the book of Joshua, in chapters 3 and 4, God's people were literally on the brink of taking the final steps that would lead them into the promised land. This was the culmination of a 40-year exodus from Egypt that was filled with fears that they went through during this time, sins in their lives, failures, unbelief. But finally, after crossing that final obstacle, the Jordan River, God instructed Joshua in our passage here in Joshua 4 to set up 12 stones on the other side as a memorial of who God is and what God had done. Let's look at our passage tonight, Joshua 4 and begin reading in verse 1. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take ye twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe, a man. And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priest's feet stood firm, twelve stones. And ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel out of every tribe a man. And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up, every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel. that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, when it passed over Jordan. The waters of Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be for memorial unto the children of Israel forever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. You know these stones were more than just a memorial to signify a particular event in Israel's history. These stones represented the character and the power of God at work in the lives of His people. And tonight I want us to remember these stones. Let's begin with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, as we come before you tonight, as we have the opportunity, Lord, to open your word and to look at what you've given us tonight, Lord, I pray that you'd open our hearts. I pray that you would help us to see you. I pray that you'd help us to see who you are, your character, Lord. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to see your goodness, Lord, in the midst of everything that seems unsettling and uncertain in our world and maybe even in our own lives. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us to remember, Lord, what you've done and help me tonight. I pray that you'd give me the words, help me to say what you'd have me to say tonight. We ask these things in your precious name. Amen. Well, how are you going to remember 2020? I'd like to take the passages here in Joshua 3 and 4 and look at three stones that I believe represent God's work in the lives of His people. Not just God's work on Israel's behalf at the Jordan River as we read in chapter 4, but also God's work on our behalf. in this year that we're about to close. First of all, remember the stones of God's presence. Remember the stones of God's presence. Throughout Israel's journey, throughout their history as we read throughout scripture, we read time and time again that they were never alone. There was always, God was always with them regardless of where they were, what they were going through, what they were facing, who they were dealing with, God was always there. And although there may be times in our lives where we cannot feel the presence of God, we can be assured according to His Word that He is always there. Hebrews 13 verse 5 says this, There's a couple things about God's presence that we see. In these passages, first of all, we see His presence ahead of us. We see God's presence ahead of us. You know, by the time that Joshua got to the Jordan River, he knew that God was already there. Turn back just a couple of chapters to Joshua 1 and I want to read just real quick. Joshua is now in charge and God's gonna give him some direction as we begin the book of Joshua. In Joshua 1, look at beginning in verse 1. Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses." You know, as Joshua's standing there, he's faced there at the Jordan River, and we're thinking about God's presence, he knew that God was already there. God had told him that. God had already spoken to Joshua and said, wherever you will go, I've already given you there. I've already given you that. God had already given Joshua the assurance that He had already gone before him and prepared victories for Israel against enemies on the other side of the Jordan that they had never even fought against. God had given him that assurance. that His presence was ahead of them. And as they camped back in chapter 3, as they camped on the banks of the Jordan River, Joshua then begins to give his instructions to the people that God had given him. He gives the specific instructions that they were to stay put. He says to stay put. until the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant were in place first." Look in chapter 3, in Joshua 3, look at verse 3. It says, "...and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then ye shall remove your place and go after it." Specific instruction for them not to move until they had seen the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant go ahead of them. And you've got to remember the Ark of the Covenant was representation of the presence of God. And God wanted His people to see Him at work on their behalf. We skip ahead in chapter 3 in verse 11. Joshua again is telling them what's about to happen. He says in verse 11, he says, Let's skip down to verse 13. God wanted His people to see that He was there, to see that He was already at work on their behalf before they even moved. Before they took one step, they were going to be seeing for themselves what God was going to do. So we see that God's presence was ahead of them and He's ahead of us. You know, it's true. There's times in our lives that we need to take steps of faith. because we can't see God ahead of us. We don't know what God is doing. We do not understand all of the things that are going on and what God is trying to do. However, there's also times that God has made His presence known and we just need to join with Him and move forward and join Him ahead of us. In Deuteronomy 9, verse 3, the Bible says, Understand therefore this day that the Lord thy God is He which goeth over before thee. I don't know, probably many of us in this room have at some time tried to teach our children to swim or maybe the early stages of them trying to get used to swimming and getting into the water and usually what happens sometimes is we'll get in the water first and we'll tell them, you know, it's okay, you just jump and I'll catch you, I'm right here. And you know how it is, you've got some of your children who, you know, they're a little shy about that, you know, they may kind of run up to the edge and look over and stop and you're like, it's okay, it's okay, just jump in, I'll catch you, I promise, I'm right here. Some of us may have children that they just run as fast as they can and they just jump and they think, they'll think about what will happen after the fact. Some of us may have those kinds of children. But that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to get them to come and join us. And that's what God is saying. I'm already here. I'm already here. My presence is with you and I'm waiting. And there's not one thing that took place this past year in 2020 that caught God by surprise. He was already there. He's already there just telling us to be faithful, to trust Him, to keep moving forward. He's already there just waiting for us. And throughout all of this year, of course, our theme for this year is Launch Out. And throughout this year, through everything that was going on, Pastor Broyhill continually was encouraging us to launch out. To launch out why? is already there. God's presence is ahead of us. So not only do we see His presence that was ahead of us, but we also see that God's presence is with us in the midst of whatever it is that we're going through. In Moses' charge to Joshua back in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 31, verses 7 and 8. You don't have to turn there, I'll read it to you. Deuteronomy 31, verses 7 and 8. Moses says, And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him, In the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage, for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them. And thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the LORD, he it is, that doth go before thee. He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee, fear not, neither be thou dismayed. So Moses is telling Joshua ahead of time, ahead of the fact, not only is God going to go before you and be with you, but God is going to be with you. He's not going to forsake you. Fear not. So back now in Joshua chapter 3, Joshua is now in charge. He's now here in front of the people of Israel on the banks of the Jordan River getting ready to lead them across and he's in charge and he's giving the people instruction. And I love what Joshua says to the people as he's giving them instruction. He's preparing them for what they are about to do. Back in Joshua chapter 3, look at verse 9. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither and hear the words of the LORD your God. Verse 10, And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you. That's a tremendous statement. When you stop and think about what Joshua is saying, the living God is among you. Do you realize tonight that no matter what you may be going through or what you may have been through or what we may deal with down the road, the living God of this universe is among us. And we don't have to fear. We don't have to worry. God is there ahead of us and God will be there with us in the midst of whatever that we may be going through. It doesn't matter what we may have faced this past year. It doesn't matter what we will face in 2021 and beyond. But if we know the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior, then the living God is going to be with us. And we can say with surety, greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. As we continue in Joshua 3, down in verses 14-17, we read of the actual crossing of the Jordan River. Look at verse 14, in chapter 3 verse 14, And it came to pass, when the people were removed, from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people. And as they that bear the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest, that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city of Adam that is beside Zeriton, And those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off. And the people passed over right against Jericho." Look at verse 17, "'And the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan. And all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed. clean over Jordan. As each individual Israelite passed over the Jordan River on dry ground, no doubt each one of them as they were making their way across fixed their eyes on the Ark of the Covenant of God. and were seeing God's presence as they walked by on dry ground, and surely they felt the presence of God as they were going through. And you can almost hear the conversation. Sometime down the road, a young Israelite boy asked his father or his grandfather, you know, what are these stones for? What are these stones all about? And the father or the grandfather, maybe with tears in his eyes, recounts the story. of when he stepped into the dry ground of the Jordan and as he was going, he fixed his eyes on the Lord and he tells this young boy, as I continue to pass to the other side, I knew everything was going to be okay because God was there. And we can have that same assurance. We can have that same confidence even in our own lives. You know what? What are we going to remember about God's presence in our lives in 2020? Sitting here tonight, it just seems like week after week we're just hearing more and more people that we know of that are getting sick and it's hard. It's hard to hear and it's hard probably every single one of us in this room at some point has either been touched by this sickness ourselves or somebody close to us. And maybe you were sick yourself or had a family member sick, but yet you felt the presence of the Lord through that process. Maybe you've, at some point this year because of everything that's gone on, have just been isolated. You just had, because of necessity, been isolated, but you know that God has been with you the whole time. You know, we've learned a lot this year and we've talked about it over the course of the last couple of months, but we've learned a lot this year about what it means when everything that we're used to, even church, is suddenly taken away from us. And we realize that all that we have is us and God and we come to really take account of what our fellowship with God is really like and what our fellowship with our Heavenly Father really looks like. And so these are all things that we need to recognize about God's presence. So the first stone that we want to remember tonight is the stone of God's presence. The second is this. Remember the stones of God's protection. Remember the stones of God's protection. You know, as we read of the crossing of the Jordan River in the Bible, it may not really grab our attention because we kind of already know how it all unfolds. And in fact this experience in Israel's history may not seem quite as eventful given the fact that we already read about them crossing the Red Sea with the Egyptian arming bearing down on them and pursuing them. And in fact, the story of them crossing the Jordan River may seem a little less dramatic. However, when you really look at what was going on when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, the Bible tells us here it was at flood stage. The banks were overflowing and there was nothing but the mighty hand of God that was going to be at work. that could have parted it and made it safe for his people to cross. It was because of God's protection that they made it safely. First of all, notice that God's protection is promised. Back in chapter 3, another verse is Joshua's getting the people ready. He's preparing them for what they're about to do. But notice what he says to the people back in chapter 3 and verse 5. In verse 5 of chapter 3, And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. That's a promise that Joshua is giving to God's people from God. And we can take that promise just the same for ourselves. And then Joshua goes on to describe to the people exactly what God is going to do. We read this already, but in verse 13, still in chapter 3 verse 13, And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand upon a heap." So God's people had to trust God's people had to trust that God was going to do exactly what Joshua said that God would do. And he's describing the whole event. You know, living the life of faith can be frightening at times. But it's when we need to trust the Lord. Those are the times that we need to trust the Lord and trust His words. In a familiar Psalm, in Psalm 91, I'll just read the first couple of verses, but it says this, What are we going to do when we We don't see how we can make it through. We just don't know what's going to happen. Well, God has given us a promise and it is up to us to trust in that promise that He has given us. The Bible tells us that we can dwell in the secret place. and under the shadow of the Almighty. He is our refuge. He is our fortress. In Him will I trust. We need to remember God's protection is promise, but also God's protection is complete. There's another part of this passage that we read here in chapter 3 that I think is interesting. In verse 17, at the end of chapter 3, look at verse 17 at the end, and it says, "...and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan." Verse 1 of chapter 4, "...and it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua." I looked at that word and I thought, you know, I think I know what that word means. I looked it up and yeah, that's exactly what it means. It means completely. Clean? We use that expression from time to time about something, but that's exactly what the Bible is telling us. That they passed completely. There was nobody left behind. No one was left behind. Every one of the Israelites passed clean over Jordan. And I'm thankful. I'm thankful as we think about that. We think about God's protection. Not only did He promise that He would do wonders as we read in verse 5, but also God's protection is going to be complete. I'm thankful that when God does something, He does it all the way. God doesn't leave anything undone or partially done. He leaves no doubt that He's been there. Warren Wiersbe said this, God's protection is complete. The Bible says that He passed clean over. So in Chapter 3 as we're reading this, Joshua told the people what God was going to do. Then it was all said and done. We go through and read that and we read about the memorial set up in Chapter 4 when it was all said and done. Joshua then reminded them of what God did and why. I want you to flip ahead to Chapter 4 to the end of the chapter. I want you to look at the closing of Joshua speaking to the people once they had passed over Jordan. In chapter 4, look at verse 19. Starting at verse 19 of chapter 4, And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you until you were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up from before us until we were gone over." Look at verse 24. That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God forever. God did a tremendous work. He promised the protection of His people. He showed them what He was going to do. He promised their protection and He provided and proved that protection completely through. And Joshua speaking to the people tells them that all the people of the earth will see and know who God is and what God has done and see the hand of the Lord to be able to fear the Lord your God forever. And that's what God is doing. That's why God is at work in our lives and in the lives of the people around us. Well, what are we going to choose to remember? You know, as we think about the year and we think about everything, we understand. We live in a fallen world. We live in a world that's full of sin and sickness and corruption. And we have to accept the fact that throughout the course of our lives, that those things in some way are going to touch our lives or the lives of people that we love. And yes, 2020 has been a difficult year and there have been a lot of challenges and disappointments that have come. But at the end of it all, as we stand here tonight, and again we don't know what's ahead, we don't know what the next year and the year beyond brings, but God is still God and He is still sovereign over it all. Malachi 3, verse 6 says this, Again, as we said at the beginning, all I know is that God is good. Are we going to choose to remember all the things about this year that we didn't want to happen? Are we going to choose to look back and just contemplate all of the difficulty and all of the things that took place that we wish hadn't happened? Or are we going to choose to remember our unchanging God that brought us through it? Well, tonight we've been talking about remembering these stones and we want to remember the stones of God's presence and we want to remember the stones of God's protection. And finally tonight, we want to remember the stones of God's deliverance. As I read the scripture at the beginning of the message, I left out one verse of our text. There were actually two monuments that were built that day. The first monument was the one at Gilgal which we've already been talking about tonight. But the second monument was built by Joshua himself and we see that in verse 9. If you look in Joshua 4 in verse 9, The Bible says, "...and Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priest which bare the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day." Joshua set up this monument in the middle of the river, which may have seemed strange. After all, who but God is going to see these twelve stones heaped in a riverbed? You know, the monument at Gilgal reminded the Jews that God had been with them and opened the Jordan River and brought them safely across the promised land. But the monument that Joshua set up in the depths of the river reminded them that their old life was buried. God had delivered them from their past and were never to think of going back. You know, I believe that Joshua's making a statement here. He's saying we've brought our fears, we've brought our sins, our failures, we've brought our unbelief with us far enough. And on this day and in this place, God has given us deliverance and we're not going to carry those burdens with us any farther. You know, as we realize and continue following the history of the nation of Israel, we understand that Israel's history continued to be marked by unbelief and idolatry and forsaking of God. But you know, that's not Joshua's testimony. That wasn't his testimony. In fact, we know a very familiar verse in chapter 24 in verse 15. He challenges the people. Choose you this day whom you will serve. If you want to serve the gods of the other people, you go ahead. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua was putting a monument. He was taking a time and a place where he said, enough is enough. This is the place and this is the end of where we're carrying these burdens. What are you going to choose to remember? Is there something that God has delivered you from this year? Are there things in your life that have burdened and beaten you down for so long and finally this year God broke through and gave you victory? If that's your testimony tonight, then that is something worth remembering. We can take all the other things We can just put them aside. But we can remember that God has given us deliverance. Maybe you're here tonight and maybe that's not your testimony. And in fact, maybe you say, you know what, I'm still dealing with it. I still have fears and failures and burdens and unbelief that I'm holding on to. There's still things in my life that I'm trying to work through. But God wants nothing more than for you to be able to put a stone down right now and walk away from it, never to go back. Joshua didn't just put these stones anywhere. If you look at the verse, it says, And Joshua set up the twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the ark of the covenant stood. I'm not trying to over-represent things in the Scripture, but Joshua didn't just take these stones and toss them anywhere in the river. He put them exactly at the feet of where the priests that bear the ark, the presence of God, right where God was. He put them right there at the feet of those priests. And you know, as we sit here tonight and we look at our own lives, we contemplate where we are, where we are spiritually, and we think, you know, there's still some things that I need to work through. There's still some things, I still need some deliverance in my life. You know, God wants us to come to him and to lay our burdens at the foot of the cross and just leave them there. And we can do that. We can do that. What are we going to choose to remember about 2020? Are we gonna choose to remember all the negative, all the difficulty, all the uncertainty, think about what's ahead and what we still don't know, Are we going to choose to remember the stones of God's presence, and the stones of God's protection, and the stones of God's deliverance? As we conclude tonight, I want to mention one more point from our text. It's very small, but I think it's very significant, and I want to end with this tonight. The Jews were great believers. in teaching the next generation about Jehovah and his special relationship to the people of Israel. In chapter 4, let's look back at verse 6. Chapter 4 and verse 6. The Bible says that this may be a sign among you that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Notice that the children, the Bible says, will ask their fathers, what mean ye, specifically ye, what mean ye by these stones? God's saying that the children are going to ask very pointed and personal questions to their fathers about what they chose to remember. Putting the ye in this question, what mean ye by these stones, makes it very personal. Dad, what do these stones mean to you? What is so significant in your life about these stones? And as we finish up tonight, just been thinking about this. whether we're parents or we're grandparents. Is there anything that our children and grandchildren will ask us about? As we go back and we think in years to come, as we think about 2020, what is it, if anything, that our children or grandchildren will ask us about? Is there anything that God has done personally for us that is worthy of remembering and passing on to our children and grandchildren. We may choose to pass on to our children, family, heirlooms, jewelry, furniture, things like that, and that's all fine. But what are we going to pass on to them spiritually? Remembering these stones is not just about us, remembering what God did for us. It's about passing them on to our children and grandchildren so that they can see who God is and what He has done. And here's the point that I want to get to tonight. If we have nothing to remember, if we have nothing to show for, spiritually, for this last year of our lives. And that there's nothing for our kids or our grandkids to look at and say, what about that? Tell me about what those stones mean to you in your life. That we're just simply teaching our children that those things really don't matter. And we need to stop and think about what is it that we're really going to choose to remember? What was really important about 2020? And I know, as we said, we can't undo any of it. But what is it that we're really going to choose to remember and what is it that we will have to pass on to the next generation to show them where God was, who he was to us personally in our lives, and what he did for us so that they'll see and say, that's what I want for my life. That's what I want. And that's what I want personally to be my testimony. I want my kids and my future grandkids to know what's really important in my life. I want them to know what's really important to me and to leave no question and no doubt in their minds. What are you choosing to remember? Let's bow our heads tonight.